"@maninayton - My Grandfathers Old School And The 1915 Letter They Sent To The Troops.

In a past post (here) I wrote about how my great grandfather witnessed the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. I thought readers of that post may be interested in a story concerning my grandfather, John Barstow, who fought in the First World War. In our family records, we have a fascinating insight into how the public rallied to the support of the troops who were fighting in France.

John Barstow with his war medals. Left to right: - The 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. These were very common medals issued to many who served.

During his childhood, John attended Peel school in Morley near Leeds in North Yorkshire, England.

John is on the back row, second from the left.

During Christmas 1915, when the war had bogged down into bloody trench warfare, the teachers and pupils of Peel school made postcards to send to former pupils who were in the forces.

The postcard from Peel school.

They also sent out an accompanying letter.

It's a little hard to read so I have provided a transcript below.

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Peel Street Council Schools
Morley
Xmas, 1915

Dear Private Barstow

On behalf of the scholars and teachers of the above schools we send you hearty greetings and best wishes for this Xmas and New Year.

We need hardly say that we trust you will have as happy and as pleasant a time as the exceptional circumstances in which you are placed will permit.

It may interest you to know that your school "Roll of Honour" contains the names of two hundred and eighty former scholars and ten former teachers who are taking part in this great struggle for the rights of man and freedom from tyranny.

Trusting we shall meet you once again at the old school in the not far distant future.

We remain
With kindest regards
Yours sincerely
Geo(? - short for George?) Wood
Head

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The letter is obviously one of a batch that has been copied multiple times (probably on a mimeograph machine) and you can see that "Private Barstow" has been added by hand. Although it could be said to be a little impersonal it must have meant something to my grandfather as he kept it safe throughout the war and up until the day he died.

To put this into context a little, prior to the war Morley was a close-knit community with many people working in the same cotton mills and living in the same streets. Those 'former scholars' from Peel school and the many other schools in the area would have represented almost all of the families in Morley. It would have been a huge social upheaval to have had so many young men leave to fight in the war.

By Christmas 1915 the war had been underway for nearly a year and a half and already many of the young Morely men would have died. This postcard and letter would have been a way for the people at home to have shown solidarity with those fighting at the front.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and would consider following me (I will reciprocate). Some of my posts are about mental health issues while others cover a wide range of subjects. For a taster of my musings please follow these links:-

A #treetuesday entry - the Common Beech

Bluebells blanket our woodland floors

A family link to the Charge Of The Light Brigade

Until next time - take care of yourselves.